Thin film transistor (TFT) arrays for flat-panel displays are typically fabricated using amorphous-silicon-on-glass technology. Emerging display applications, such as electronic paper or remotely-updateable posters, will require TFT arrays on flexible substrates fabricated over very large areas, features which are difficult to achieve with amorphous silicon devices. In addition, these new applications will only gain wide acceptance if they can be produced at a significantly lower cost than current capital-intensive techniques allow. Consequently, there is significant interest in printable electronics as a low-cost fabrication technique compatible with large areas and flexible substrates. A common feature to most of these techniques is that the critical semiconductor-gate dielectric interface is formed by deposition of the semiconductor onto the dielectric. C. J. Drury et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 73 (1998) 108–110 disclose the application of the dielectric via spin-coating to a poly(thienylenevinylene) semiconductor which had been cast from a precursor solution and then cured, rendering it insensitive to the solvent carrier for the dielectric layer. Podzorov et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 82 (2003) 1739, disclose the deposition of parylene from the gas phase onto a single crystal of rubrene, a process which does not dramatically affect the semiconductor, but which also does not provide much latitude in the choice of dielectric material. In general, the use of solvent-based deposition of materials onto semiconducting layers has been avoided because the applied solvent can compromise the integrity of the semiconductor.
As an alternative approach, lamination offers a solvent-free method for transferring a wide range of polymer dielectrics onto a variety of semiconductors. Lamination is a dry process, can be applied over large areas, and is compatible with many of the proposed features of printable electronic technology, e.g. roll-to-roll processing. However, until now, a variety of technical challenges had prevented lamination from being a viable approach.